Cedarwatch abhors
the emasculation of the freedom of the press and media generally represented in the
judgment of the Publications Court handed down on 4 September 2002.

In what would
otherwise be regarded as a bizarre ruling, but certainly the norm for Lebanon, the Media
Court ordered that both radio and TV stations be shut down as they had violated Article 68
of the Parliamentary Election Law during the Metn by-election in June by running election
advertising.

The order was
both swift and severe, resulting in the immediate and final closure of the TV and radio
stations operating as sister companies. The stations are owned by Christian Opposition MP
Gabriel Murr.

The Lebanese
government and its erstwhile spokesperson Prosecutor Adnan Addoum (aka "Doom and
Gloom"), in statesmanlike fashion, flatly rejected a request that there be a
temporary lifting of the order pending an appeal. He denied any such reprieve, indicating
that the original order was what he termed, with his customary eloquence, a
"preventive" ruling.

The Court's
decision had the inevitable polarisation of opinion and political position but more to the
point it highlighted and brought to the fore international concern in the form of
diplomatic disdain from the United States and French Embassies. Whilst the French Embassy
made no official announcement, there certainly was an expression of opinion from its
ambassador, his Excellency, Phillippe Lecourtier, referring to a statement made by one of
his country's spokespersons, Monsieur François Rivassot.

The international
ire expressed by the US and French Embassies is both welcome and regrettably stands in
stark contradistinction to other democracy-loving nations which have embassies within
Beirut.

From within the
Lebanese themselves there has been a mainstream and a groundswell of protest which is both
healthy and indicative that Lebanese society will not subjugate itself in a
supplicant-like fashion to the barbarous tyranny that Syria is exerting through the
domestic institutions such as the judiciary and the office of the Prosecutor General.

The Lebanese
judiciary has long been a laughing stock and is a well-known judicial joke throughout the
world. They are but pathetic proselytes of the Syrian regime, acting through the Lebanese
lackeys in the form of the President and the Prime Minister, respectively.

Notably, the
Prime Minister, Mr Rafiq Hariri, has been silent over the issue - possibly due to a
"large ingestion of clean air". In any event, mere matters of fundamental
freedoms have never bothered the Lebanese Prime Minister, whose mind is occupied with
mercantile matters.

The usual
response was elicited from Prime Minister Lahoud, who could make no comment until he had
spoken to his Syrian superior, to not only get the line that he should take but also to
study his response before he could deliver it.

Mercifully, other
socially minded bodies within the Lebanese community have not been as insipid or as
indifferent as the political supremos.

Groups as diverse
as the Communist Party, the Beirut Bar Association and the Qornet Shehwan, which
represents the vanguard of the Christian populace, all voiced their opposition and
denounced the Court ruling for the ridiculous spectacle that it was, both to the nation
and to the world.

Religious leaders
have not been silent in their condemnation. The Maronite Cardinal, Nasrallah Sfeir, and
Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Beirut, Elias Audeh, have trenchantly condemned the closure
of the stations as an abject denial of a fundamental freedom.

The Maronite
Cardinal and his protest is legendary. It is hoped his Bishops throughout the world will
be invigorated by his example, and they will not cower from the task of criticising the
Syrian and Lebanese regimes.

A prominent
Minister, Mr Marwan Hamadeh (Minister of the Displaced), denounced the ruling and went as
far as to accuse the judges of "... obeying the orders of an invisible power".
It is hoped that the Honourable Minister's vision will become more focused as the
invisible power does not lack form or vestige but is safely and securely able to be seen
in the City of Damascus, the seat of Syrian power.

What this
confirms, and what Cedarwatch has always espoused and warned, is the presence of the
Syrian Secret Service and the fact that they have infiltrated all government bodies and in
particular the judicial branch of government, such that the state of infection is so
drastic that there is no independence or any semblance of free thinking judges who will
administer justice without fear or favour.

The attempt to
disrupt the meeting called to protest the closure of the media outlets by the Press
Federation of Lebanon was but an indication of the sponsorship of delinquent action to
denounce political freedoms and in particular the freedom of the press.

Cedarwatch, when
enquiring from associated organisations in search of information concerning the cause of
the closure, was given an excuse that "the licence had expired" and hence the
need to close the radio and TV station. The ridiculousness of such a position, as the
official word of the Lebanese government, highlights the very sad state of affairs that
has evolved in Lebanon today.

Coming at a time
when the world is remembering the indiscriminate acts of terrorism that occurred at the
World Trade Centre and elsewhere on the fateful day of 9/11, this "bold" display
by the Lebanese Media Court is to be seen for what it is, namely a sophisticated Syrian
response to let all and sundry know, in Lebanon, who is in control.

Weak-willed
Ministers of the State, such as the Minister for Health, Mr Suleiman Franjieh, in
attempting to allay the fears of the Press Federation by calling for calm and observance
of the government's judicial process, was rightly denounced and ridiculed for the fool
that he is and the Cabinet clown that he regularly fulfils as a role model in Lahoud's
government.

Cedarwatch
charges the Lebanese government with yet another crime against humanity and fundamental
freedom, namely the freedom of speech and the press. As has been rightly observed by
international commentators, if there is no free and open media in Lebanon, there can be no
free and open government. To utilise the judiciary in the manner that has occurred to
justify the closure of the radio and TV stations, RML and MTV respectively, exemplifies
all three features of the basic infraction and violation of the rule of law:

There is no doubt
that what has occurred is not a dramatic development but could have been easily forecast
as long ago as 1994 and even before that, with the TAIF Accord coming into existence in
1991. Accompanying the denunciation of the freedom of the press and the media is also the
oppression of political free will evident in the incarceration of Dr Samir Geagea and the
exile of General Michel Aoun, as well as the other prominent political leaders. The recent
assassination of Ramzi Irani and the detention of prominent Lebanese dissidents in the
Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces, and their continued incarceration are but
by-products of the same production line which, in effect, is for the sole purpose of the
subjugation of the Lebanese will to become Syrian slaves.

Cedarwatch urges
all free-minded and democracy-loving peoples, and especially those of Lebanese ancestry,
to protest to their governments and to human rights bodies, such as Amnesty International,
at the closure of the media outlets in question, in order that the repression will not
take on a popular mandate.

You are urged to
write and protest, peacefully, in such manner as you see fit and not to cease until the
order is lifted and the radio and TV stations can operate yet again.